


Castillo de Cristal

by RaccoonEyedNerd



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Based on a True Story, F/F, Healing, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Romance, it turns out to be softer than you imagined by these previous tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 07:43:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaccoonEyedNerd/pseuds/RaccoonEyedNerd
Summary: She ran away from home.She has a fast car.It sounds like it could work.So maybe it will.





	Castillo de Cristal

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, a very important disclaimer that you shouldn't ignore: The events described on this fic are partially based in real stories, but that doesn't mean it's a kind of instruction manual on how to run away from home or how to deal with certain situations; every experience is totally different and it varies depending of so much factors. So please, if you're in a critical situation like the ones described on this work, reach out to people you can trust, reach out for the authorities or any organization that might help.
> 
> Don't forget that there's always someone out there that loves you and will care for you unconditionally, even if it doesn't seem like it.
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoy this with an open heart and an open mind.
> 
>  
> 
> Playlist, because I love to make all this a multi-sensorial experience: https://goo.gl/Kox6La
> 
> My twitter, if you need to talk about everything or nothing, or maybe complain about my poor writing decisions: @RaccoonEyedNerd

**Act one: The downfall**

 

It was funny, how she used to love her old sneakers; back at home she had three pairs in two different colors, black and blue, and she would use them practically everyday because those kind of sneakers matched with all the clothes she used and the ones her brother gave her were way to big for her to use until she grew up a bit more -and she refused to carry the heavy load on her bag anyway-.

 

Those three pairs of sneakers were the first thing she packed before running away from home.

 

She was in a rush when she started, maybe out of fear of her father waking up or the night ending excessively soon for her to have time before they noticed. Her usually calculating hands were suddenly clumsy and she had to try three times before she finally got a couple hoodies correctly folded inside of her bag, also picking her best pants out of her old closet and a couple beanies she found earlier on her brother's bedroom because she would certainly need them if she were to spend the night in some street out in the cold.

 

She gave her bedroom a last look, trying to remember any other important item she wasn't ready to leave behind, she saw science fair medals, trophies and every prize her father decided to ignore, tossed inside of a box; a painful reminder of the reality she was tossed against when she was brought into the world. She finally picked a couple notebooks and her favorite pencils, a present from her childhood friend she refused to use because of the memories she didn't want to let go, and practically the only good memories she could recall at the moment.

 

Tzuyu took a deep breath, trying to control herself and hold back the tears before someone heard her because of the constant thumping inside her chest; she went for the door, with the intention of searching through the kitchen for some snack to carry on her adventure or, maybe another knife from her brother's secret collection under the broken washing machine.

 

But then she wanted to chuckle, that was one of the problems that finally got her out of that house.

 

Her father barely cooked or shopped for food the last years, so it was unlikely for her to find anything to eat on the kitchen.

 

She put her forehead against the closed door of her bedroom, trying to find bravery to take the final first step towards the big world on her own.

 

The young girl ended up kissing the old wood goodbye, a silent farewell to her old life, her father and her brother; a final and sad reminder of the fact that, whatever she did, an important part of her -whether good or bad- would be forever left behind on the house. Falling on one knee, Tzuyu checked her shoelaces and grabbed her skateboard before standing up and getting out using the window instead.

 

She gave the house a last longing look before she put the hood over her braided hair and got on her skateboard, trying to leave the neighborhood behind as fast as she could and the last memory Zhou Tzuyu left behind on the ironically warm night was a trail of tears over the cold concrete as she disappeared into the darkness, with the bittersweet knowledge that probably no one would even make the effort to find her until it was too late.

 

**Act two: Storge**

 

One of the things Tzuyu was grateful of, was her height, even with seventeen years old, her mature face and tall complexion made her look older, which was actually useful while moving around the city in the middle of the night. Police officers barely sent a glance in her direction, and the families rushing to get home in her vehicles didn't really mind giving her a lift under the excuse of taking her back to her dorm because the studying session had went a little bit too long in the morning.

 

In a couple hours, around seven in the morning, Tzuyu was away enough and reached the big highway, a metaphor for all the great things, whether good or bad, were coming her way.

 

Only then, she started to hate her sneakers, because those kind of shoes definitively were not comfortable enough for long walks by the highway, or so she figured when she decided to carry her skateboard under her arm, not wanting to damage the truck and wheels considering the unstable grounds beside the highway concrete.

 

Step by step she followed the seemingly infinite lines decorating the highway, walking until she heard the sound of any engine that would help her go beyond the point she initially had thought. And three hours and a half after she started walking down the deserted road, and a hole in her sock later, the familiar sound of a car got to her ears and made her turn around quickly, pointing her thumb up in hopes to get a lift.

 

The silver Nissan Tucson stopped right beside her, and she pulled her hood back to look at the two women on the front seats.

 

"Hey, are you okay?" The soft voice of the dark haired woman inquired, concern all over her face, a logical reaction considering they were practically in the middle of nowhere.

 

"Yeah, I was just trying to get somewhere." She shrugged, trying to not look that tired and cold.

 

"Where are you going? We can give you a lift if you'd like." She kindly offered.

 

"We're going to the National Hospital, we can leave you anyplace in the way if you want; it might be dangerous for you to be here all alone." The driver added, smiling so brightly that Tzuyu thought it wasn't entirely normal.

 

However, a ride was a ride, and Tzuyu wasn't really afraid of kidnapping or death, so she just nodded and the dark haired woman signaled the door in the back.

 

"I hope you don't mind the little company beside you." The driver commented when Tzuyu opened the door and saw the baby seat on the middle.

 

She got into the vehicle anyway, sitting beside the little kid and pulling her bag and skateboard into the vehicle before closing the door carefully. She rubbed her hands against her jeans to generate some warmth on her hands and get rid of the dirt and sweat, and nodded to the driver when she asked her if everything was okay and if she was ready to go.

 

"So, what's your name?" The driver asked, without stopping to look on the empty road.

 

"Tzuyu." She quickly answered, cringing over herself when she realized her mistake.

 

"Nice to meet you, Tzuyu; this is Mina here, that little cutie beside you is Minhee and I'm Nayeon."

 

Tzuyu nodded in acknowledgment but kept quiet, glancing at the sleeping girl on the baby seat every now and then; the strangers seemed to respect her decision and didn't really make any kind of commentary for a while. She knew eventually curiosity would take the best of them and she didn't really blame them, but she was really wary about the answers she would be willing to give to them.

 

After all, people like them were good at pretending they were interested, then the concern or indignation was easy to fake; Tzuyu was way ahead of those things thanks to the experience, and after a couple years and debates with herself, she decided that try to seek empathy or help from people was a complete waste of words.

 

She took her time to observe them through the mirrors in the vehicle, and then the little girl, trying to figure out which one of them was the mother; she played guess for a while until the soft voice of the other woman interrupted her childish curiosity.

 

"Are you hungry, Tzuyu?" She turned over the seat to offer a box of grape juice and a small bag of cookies. "I always bring too much because of Minhee and the other kid here driving the car."

 

Tzuyu's brain then seemed to go on short circuit, not quite knowing how to answer to the expectant but surprisingly warm offer the woman had made. The woman sent a gummy smile on her way, her eyes mysterious but somewhat knowing; the young girl felt intimidated for a couple instants and all the alarms started sounding on her head, but Mina just smiled and left both the juice box and the small bag in the space between the two front seats, no additional questions, and then she turned around to look at the empty road alongside the driver, chatting about some movie and their theories about it.

 

She bit her lower lip, glanced at the people in the front, checking if they were looking at her before discretely taking the snacks, and bring them over her lap to start eating as quietly as she could before her own stomach betrayed her and put her on evidence.

 

Then the driver, Nayeon, turned on the radio in a low volume, quiet enough to not wake up the baby, but loud enough to give some sort of privacy to her while she ate.

 

They had noticed the clothes and the bruises after all.

 

"Oh, I love this song. Mina, it's the prom song." The driver squeaked happily, making Tzuyu startle for a bit.

 

"This is the corniest thing I've ever heard in my life."

 

"Come on, you love it."

 

"I'm sorry to break it to you like this, but that's not true."

 

"You still danced to it with me though."

 

"Fair point."

 

Tzuyu heard the exchange with a blank expression on her face, trying to figure out the context of the random commentaries the two women were making throughout the ride.

 

But then the little girl beside her woke up, and stared at her like she was boring holes into her face.

 

"Uhmm..." She mumbled, but the two women didn't hear her, instead she was left to have a staring contest with a baby who had almost the same neutral expression as her. "Excuse m-"

 

She was interrupted by a little hand taking a surprisingly strong hold on her over-sized hoodie sleeve, and the little girl now widely smiling at her with her head tilting to the side, or well, trying to smile since she didn't had all of her teeth yet. Tzuyu froze then, not quite sure about how to proceed since she never had shared such an intense eye contact with a baby like that, but then the kid glanced towards the bag of cookies on her lap and everything made sense.

 

In a childish reaction, Tzuyu shook her head, but the kid insisted, staring at her like she had grew a second head.

 

Eventually, and after a little convincing that included shiny eyes and a cute giggle, Tzuyu extended one of the cookies to expectant little hands.

 

"Happy now?" She asked, and the girl just giggled again, showing off her two big front teeth, making her look like a little bunny. For a brief second, Tzuyu wished her prayers would be audible for whoever created the world, so she could just wish for Minhee and her family to have a happy life.

 

"Nayeon, Minhee woke up, and she's stealing food from her new friend." Mina announced after hearing the second giggle.

 

"Hey, baby girl, are you being nice?" Nayeon cooed, Minhee just kept looking at Tzuyu and smiling with her front teeth dirty thanks to the cookie.

 

"Are you her mom?" Tzuyu found herself asking to Nayeon, initially thinking Mina was the mother of the child.

 

"We both are." Mina answered.

 

"Oh." Tzuyu said as she looked at Minhee, frowning, and then the two women in the front seats, and then back to the kid until her brain clicked. "Ohhhhhhhhhh."

 

Well, now she felt really stupid for not noticing before.

 

The young girl blushed when she realized the implications, and out of pure shame she put her hood back over her head, looking at Minhee and quietly asking her why didn't she say anything.

 

The silence came back after a while, and after another hour of driving, they reached the next city, and the time for her to bid her farewell and go on by herself.

 

She asked for them to leave her on the local diner, and quietly got off the vehicle after secretly giving Minhee one of her beanies as a present, which she gleefully accepted and hugged like it was the most precious thing her tiny hands had ever held. Her lips twitched on a secret smirk as she closed the back door and waved Minhee goodbye while Mina and Nayeon got off the car and walked towards her.

 

Mina handed her a small bag full of snacks.

 

"Take care, okay?" Her knowing eyes smiled alongside her mouth before she lent forward and softly kissed her cheek, making her flinch before muttering a shy apology.

 

"Always wear two pairs of socks." Nayeon said, and winked at her. She also took Tzuyu by surprise then, asking for a hug and sliding something into her hoodie pocket. She later found out it was enough money for her to eat for at least five days if she used it smartly.

 

Tzuyu learnt about family then, and how family loved with no questions asked.

 

**Act three: Agape**

 

When her third night away from home came by, Tzuyu found herself again in the road, riding her skateboard and cursing to herself when she mumbled that stupid "prom song" she couldn't get out of her head.

 

She found herself humming anyway after a couple minutes.

 

The lights of a near gas station got her attention and it didn't took her more than a couple minutes to reach the place, looking from afar to avoid any kind of problems or suspicious strangers; she dusted her jeans and hoodie with the intention to look less like a homeless girl and more like a simple tourist taking a long, really long walk through the highway, not quite believable, but equally convenient in a sense.

 

When she made sure no one but the clerk was in the convenience store by the gas station, Tzuyu made her entrance and bought both a bottle of water and a ramen cup, nodding her head to the rhythm of the western song that was playing on the speakers.

 

"Excuse me, do you, by chance, have a bathroom I could use?" She politely asked the man after paying for her stuff pulling her hood back so she could look trust worthy.

 

The man looked at her twice and nodded slowly, signaling the door by the end of the store.

 

"No funny business, if you take more than eight minutes I'll go in and kick you out or I'll call the police."

 

Tzuyu just nodded understandingly and left her skateboard with the man, like a silent guaranty.

 

It was surprisingly clean when she entered and locked the door behind her, so she quickly took off her hoodie and sneakers, undoing her braids and getting a new shirt from her bag. She used the sink then, to wash herself as clean as she could considering the situation, drying herself with the used shirt. The whole deal didn't took her more than five minutes -somehow even finding time to clean her hair-, leaving three to spare and do her business before she was considerably clean, with fresh clothes and ready to go.

 

She even got to wear her blue sneakers.

 

When the young girl went to open the door, scared that the man could barge in at any minute, she heard another voice in the store. A female voice speaking to the clerk.

 

She held her breath for an instant, not quite sure about what to do next, what if she was a police officer? What if she knew about her disappearance? Tzuyu tried to listen from the other side of the door, but she couldn't make out the words so she just sighed and prepared herself to go out, retrieve her skateboard and keep moving until she found another place to spend the night.

 

The young girl opened the door and put her hood over her now loose long hair, timidly carrying herself to the counter to get her skateboard back.

 

Immediately, two pairs of eyes, one curious and the other indifferent, focused on her and Tzuyu found it hard to not just run away scared; so she just bowed respectfully and reached for her board, softly thanking the clerk and ignoring the woman on purpose until she got out of the store and practically ran to the parking lot on the side, sitting down and hiding in between two drink expending machines.

 

She patiently waited until she heard the sound of an engine starting on the front, but she didn't move; maybe, if she played her cards well, she still could sneak back into the bathroom and spend the night there.

 

Of course, and like the life she lived before that moment, luck wasn't being that nice to her.

 

"I know you'd be here." The feminine voice stated confidently, and Tzuyu jumped, scared when she saw her smile, which immediately made her expression change. "Whoa, I'm sorry, are you okay?"

 

The young girl stood up and didn't took her eyes away from the woman, her whole body alert to every movement that might mean a threat to her.  The woman raised both of her hands in surrender and took two steps back.

 

"Are you a cop?" Tzuyu seriously asked.

 

Unexpectedly, the woman chuckled softly.

 

"No, I'm not." She answered softly, opening her leather jacket and showing the young girl she didn't carry any badge or gun on her waist. "I just saw you coming out from the bathroom and I think it was strange for a girl to be alone here, especially considering the fact that the next town is hours away and the only car I saw outside besides mine is the truck which, I assume, isn't yours."

 

"So what about it? What do you want?" Tzuyu's voice turned aggressive, and the unknown woman softened her expression even more.

 

"I just wanted to know if you needed help, if you needed something, anything."

 

"I'm good, you can leave now."

 

"I could lend you a towel for your hair, you'll catch a cold." The woman said, still taking slow steps back while Tzuyu looked at her. "And I know of a better place where you could spend the night, a lot better than a bathroom."

 

Tzuyu's eyes started to wander then, looking around and trying to decide what to do. Every person had become a risk for her, but every person also meant an opportunity for her to get even more far away from the place she had come from; she looked at the woman again, her stance and her body frame, she looked delicate and smaller than her.

 

By logic, the woman was a lot less dangerous than the big guy inside the store.

 

But still, Tzuyu knew better than trusting any adult around.

 

"Where." She asked sharply.

 

"My car." She pointed at the front of the store, towards the old Pontiac parked there.

 

"You want me to sleep on your car?" Tzuyu scoffed, grabbing her bag close to her body.

 

"Okay, it sounds stupid and dangerous, I know." She said smiling, but then she reached behind her, probably her back pocket and took something she showed at Tzuyu before putting it on the floor and kicking it towards Tzuyu. "That's the only guarantee I can offer you, and by looking at you, it's the right one."

 

It was a knife, a pocket one but still a knife.

 

"Take it, and come with me. I promise you won't have to use it."

 

"And what makes you think I won't use it against you anyway?" Tzuyu raised her chin in defiance.

 

The woman just shrugged and turned around a lot more confidently, not even looking over her shoulder when she replied. Tzuyu slowly and very cautiously walked behind her from a safe distance.

 

"Because I had a hunch when I looked at you inside the store, you don't look like the kind that would hurt anyone on purpose."

 

There were at least four meters from where Tzuyu was standing to the place where the car still was parked, she could feel the look of the other woman from inside the car, but she couldn't find the bravado to do anything like running away or walking confidently towards the vehicle.

 

She picked the knife from the floor and held her skateboard close to her chest, hanging the old bag across her shoulders as she started debating with herself about what to do.

 

A cool breeze gave her the answer in a shiver that mercilessly took over her body.

 

Tzuyu might regret her decisions later, but she was also aware of the risks from the moment she put a foot outside her house, so she walked towards the car and opened the passenger's door, knife in hand and an strong grasp on her board and bag.

 

"Where to?" The woman asked when Tzuyu leaned down to look at her.

 

"Far away." She simply answered, entering the car and slowly closing the door, all that without taking her eyes from the woman, ready for any sudden movements.

 

"Sounds good to me." She smiled, and started the engine.

 

**

 

Half an hour passed by until the woman spoke again, and a part inside Tzuyu was actually relieved to hear her talking, it somehow soothed her fears of her being a total psycho or worse... Something way too familiar to her.

 

"You can leave your things on the backseat if you want, you look uncomfortable. Also there's a towel for your hair on the blue bag on the back." She offered without really looking at her. "You probably don't want to know this, but I think it's the best for you to know about me if we're going to ride together for a while. My name is Jisoo."

 

Tzuyu didn't answer, instead watched her every movement with furrowed eyebrows, and like a scared animal would, she cautiously turned to put her things on the back, opening the blue bag as fast as she could to retrieve the towel; the young girl didn't fail to notice the rest of the things the woman was carrying on said bag, but obviously didn't make any comment about it.

 

"Do you mind if I turn on the radio? I feel kind of insecure when it's too silent but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable either." She asked when Tzuyu started drying her hair with the towel. The girl just shrugged, silently wondering when was the last time the woman had took someone she didn't knew for a ride.

 

Soon the car was filled with the sounds of the guitar intro of the seemingly foreign song, and a couple instants later, the woman started humming along, her fingers softly tapping the beat on the steering wheel. Tzuyu could have laughed if it wasn't for the distrust, but the woman indeed looked like she couldn't bear the temptation to keep talking to her.

 

In the middle of her train of thoughts, she noticed the highway lights reflecting on the woman's face and her slightly wavy dark hair, moving thanks to her rhythmic movements.

 

Tzuyu was a very smart girl, and in that intelligence, she knew she had to keep quiet and not mention the dark imperfections on her otherwise fair skin; a flash of bitterness invaded her heart and she had to turn away in order to ignore the new knowledge about Jisoo. She, after all, understood what kind of violence was necessary in order to get that specific kind of bruise and the story behind that violence could only be as somber as her own.

 

Still, the fact didn't make her trust the woman, but it made something inside her shift... Sympathy, maybe.

 

"I hope you don't mind me talking a little bit, It's been a while since I had a conversation with someone and the clerk back in the store didn't seem too enthusiastic to have a chat. Besides, I don't want to fall asleep while driving, now that would be really unfortunate." She sang a couple lines of the song that was playing on the background, like it was unavoidable for her to follow the lyrics.

 

She knew it was Spanish, but Tzuyu couldn't bring herself to understand a single word of the lyrics, still, the instrumental gave her a slight idea about the content, and that kept her satisfied for the time being. There was something oddly calming about Jisoo singing along instead of staying quiet, maybe she was used to do that in the solitude of her classic car and that made her wonder about Jisoo's occupation.

 

The grip on the pocket knife started to get loose by every passing minute, as her eyelids started to get heavy and her body started to demand a proper night of rest, relaxing her every muscle against the comfortable sit of the classic car; the younger girl didn't stop listening to Jisoo's voice, even though she was starting to become a blurry image on the back of Tzuyu's mind, threatening to run away in order to give space to ambiguous and potentially dangerous dreams.

 

The woman glanced at her as discretely as she could bring herself to, and then cleared her throat in order to wake her up without imposing herself over the girl.

 

"We're stopping by here; It's late for me to keep driving." She explained as she drove the burgundy Pontiac out of the road and into the deserted landscape until she found a space safe enough to park the vehicle, barely sending her a look when she sat up and shook her head in order to keep her consciousness. "But don't worry; we'll be back in the road before the sun rises completely."

 

**

 

Tzuyu didn't take her eyes off her when she stopped the car and put on the handbrake, leaving the car shortly after in order to retrieve her bag from the backseat and toss it into the truck of her car; Tzuyu followed shortly, wanting to stretch herself a little bit to get rid of the cramps on her muscles.

 

The night wasn't dark, and it was thanks to the lack of contamination in the air, that let all the stars and the moon shine brightly over the tree line and the landscape, making the whole scenario look silver; it was quiet, beside the gentle humming coming from Jisoo, still the same Spanish song, like she was incapable of get it out of her head. There was, of course a gentle breeze, but it was a whisper in comparison to all the noise Tzuyu was used to deal with.

 

"Hey." Jisoo called, pulling her once again from her thoughts "Here's a blanket for you, it's more comfortable than using lot of layers of clothes."

 

She seemed to speak from knowledge, Tzuyu noticed.

 

"I'll sleep on the back seat, so you can take the front one; I thought that it would make you feel safer that way. But if you want to sleep on the back, it's your choice." The younger girl raised one of her eyebrows, and Jisoo just shrugged, throwing the blanket at her and taking her jacket off right after.

 

Tzuyu kept the front door open and tossed the blanket inside, hesitantly taking her bag from inside and handling it to the older woman so she could stock it inside the truck so they wouldn't be uncomfortable with the small space inside the car.

 

Then came the awkward silence again when Tzuyu held a shirt on her hand and stared blankly at Jisoo, who didn't understood the silent language immediately and just tilted her head a little bit in confusion until it clicked on her head and she blushed, turning around. The younger girl blinked twice and shook her head, taking the hem of her hoodie and pulling it off, followed by her shirt, this last one making her groan softly.

 

Jisoo kept silent but her brain immediately reacted to the pained sound coming from the girl, so she peeked out of concern and saw the truth on the younger girl's skin; she turned around fast after her eyes registered the half naked complexion of the girl, defined muscles shining under the nightlights and a map on shades of purple painted on her body. Some of the bruises looked recent, so she silently opened her blue bag and retrieved an item from it.

 

When the both of them looked ready to sleep, they climbed back on the car, Jisoo on the back and Tzuyu in the front, reclining the seat so it would be comfortable but not too much so she let space for the older woman's feet on the backseat; the younger girl soon got herself comfortable in silence until she felt a gentle pat on her shoulder. She turned around to find Jisoo holding out an ointment of sorts.

 

"You won't sleep well if they still hurt." She simply said before laying down on the back seat and covering herself with the blanket.

 

Tzuyu held the ointment on her hands, looking at the woman who turned around, ready to sleep; she didn't open it, and just left it on the seat beside her, covering herself to wait until the woman fell asleep and so she could sleep at peace. She stared out the window, looking at the stars shining brightly and even more now that the car lights were off.

 

"It's hard to believe isn't it? How small we are in comparison with the universe." Jisoo said quietly, the only signal she got of being heard was the slight movement of Tzuyu's head. "Ancient civilizations said so many things about the stars, every one of them as wonderful as they were mysterious. I like the one that talked about the stars making drawings on the night skies, telling stories about our pasts; if you think about it, it kind of makes sense, because every time a person starts looking at the stars, they look for memories and moments that already happened... And still they long for them."

 

The younger girl didn't stop looking at the stars, trying to find those moments, only to fail and just encounter bright spots covering the sky, dead stars shining at the longest distances in time and space.

 

"If I focus enough, I hear the stars humming my favorite songs with me." As if on cue, she started humming the same Spanish song softly, in a more slow and peaceful tempo. And Tzuyu heard her again, not taking the eyes off the stars until the woman stopped and she decided to look at her own hands.

 

"What is it about? The song." She found herself asking, and Jisoo kept herself in the longest silence since the both of them met.

 

"It's about a woman, and her gun." Jisoo answered. "She lets the world judge her, but she doesn't pay mind to them since she carries her gun with her everywhere; she has all the power on her hands, but she just let them believe they have it until she gets tired and picks the most appropriate and dramatic moment to show she was on top the whole time."

 

"Why would she do that if she could be over all of them if she wanted?" Tzuyu asked after a brief moment of reflection. "Why take the pain if she's has a gun to protect herself?"

 

"It's human to try and understand the views of others, I like to think she wanted to be worth it without having to prove anything to anyone. Being appreciated without the need of pulling out her gun."

 

Tzuyu hummed in understanding, trying to tie her thoughts around the things Jisoo said.

 

"You're not lying to me, right?" The younger one asked, making Jisoo sit up immediately.

 

"Why would I?"

 

"Because I don't understand Spanish, you could be making this whole thing up."

 

"Well, then I have a deal for you if you're interested. I teach you this song and a little bit of Spanish, if you tell me your name so I don't have to make a nickname for you." She proposed, and Tzuyu looked at her over her shoulder with a frown. "It's kind of hard to invent nicknames."

 

"Tzuyu." She sighed, crossing her arms.

 

"Okay so, the song, the first key word you'll learn in order to understand the song is "pistola" that means gun... "

 

**Act four: Ludus**

 

They surprisingly learnt a lot about each other in that first night, even though not much questions were made; the important things they found out were the ones that didn't need a real vocal explanation. Jisoo stuck to her word and taught Tzuyu her favorite, helping her with the pronunciation until she was capable of pronouncing the words in an understandable way.

 

Tzuyu found out that Jisoo used to be a photographer, that explained the several travels she did across the world and the languages she understood, also the several cameras she carried on the blue bag; she was also a fan of cars, and that's why she spent most of her savings on the classic Pontiac she drove on every highway of the country. The older woman was a quite transparent person about the things she loved and every fact seemed quite obvious when you looked at her for a while, but the thing that did surprise her were the tattoos covering her entire left arm from her collarbone to her wrist, the breathtaking canvas full of soft colors and the most intricate designs of cherry blossoms and orchids she had ever seen.

 

Jisoo, on her side, deducted that Tzuyu was way more smarter than she initially thought, her capacity to grasp and learn every new information tossed her way impressive if compared to her own, being considerably older; since she found out she was actually underage and skipped several years at school thanks to her grades, she felt really guilty for peeking at her body when she changed clothes, but thanks to that impulse, she proved the fact that she used to be an athlete, and a very accomplished one.

 

Talking got considerably easier the next morning, after they changed clothes and went on the road again; they spoke about music and Jisoo taught her again about other songs in many different languages, making Tzuyu grow used to her company and weird antics every now and then. They drove the whole day, stopping only to go to the bathroom, eat, or to take photographs of simple things.

 

The sky eventually went from infinite shades of blue to a deep purple as she night came closer and the next city was still a day away, so they easily agreed to call it a day and stop by a road store in order to pick something for dinner.

 

"Do you want me to get something for you?" Jihyo asked as they parked outside the store and got a gas refill for the car. "I'm getting water, some noodle cups and a couple batteries for my cameras since we can get all the other stuff from the city, and a lot cheaper I don't really worry about food."

 

"I don't need anything, I'll just go with you. Is it okay?"

 

"Of course." Jisoo chuckled as she tugged on Tzuyu's plaid shirt sleeve in order to pull her into the store.

 

This time the clerk was a young girl, who choked on her own drink when she saw them, like she wasn't used to the presence of other humans. It turned out she was more used to see old truck drivers instead of young girls in "hot ass cars", or so she explained to Jisoo when she went over to ask for specific batteries while Tzuyu went to grab the stuff the older woman named before.

 

Her name was Momo.

 

Jisoo leaned over the counter in order to whisper-ask something to Momo, who just nodded and pointed to the back of the store when Tzuyu went with their stuff to the counter in order to pay. The younger girl failed to see the bill the older girl slipped into Momo's hand.

 

"Hey, I was telling your friend it's the first time in at least three months that I see females beside my mother in here, and I planned to celebrate it with a handshake so..." She extended her hand and Tzuyu raised one of her eyebrows in confusion before letting her stuff on the counter in order to shake her hand. "I'm Momo, nice to meet you."

 

She laughed at Tzuyu's expression and started putting their stuff in a bag.

 

"I think it's obvious I don't know how to approach a girl anymore, I know, but it's a pleasant sight anyway so I won't complain about your lack of responses. It's going to be twenty bucks." She announced and Tzuyu started to count the money she had left.

 

She bit her lip when she realized she didn't had enough.

 

She looked up to see Momo putting a chocolate bar and a bag of cookies on the bag, handling it to her and taking only fifteen bucks from her hand awaiting hand as she sent a wink to her.

 

"B-but..."

 

"It's okay, I know how it's like. And I saw your girlie there looking at the chocolate so... You'll thank me eventually. Just keep making her smile like that and the pain will dissapear until there's only happiness to be shared."

 

Tzuyu was taken aback by her sudden sincere words, silently saving her last five bucks in her jeans pocket, the unexpected kindness from strangers still being an alien concept for her to completely grasp; she just nodded dumbly and Momo got around the counter in order to check the gas bomb and Jisoo's car.

 

"What a car... Must be so cool to run down the highway on this one." Momo said as she patted the car softly, checking the gas level before unhooked the bomb. Tzuyu just shrugged and turned to see Jisoo leaving the store after them, another bag on her hands, which she soon stocked into the car's trunk, ignoring the curious look Tzuyu sent to her.

 

"You can't even imagine." Jisoo answered with a smile.

 

"I'll get to know one day." She said back with a charming smile. "Okay ladies, my work here is done, you can now go on your way... Please take care and don't forget to comeback when you pass this highway again."

 

Jisoo shook her hand again and laughed, going around the car in order to get in and start the engine. Tzuyu sent a single look towards Momo and the girl winked at her again, cleaning her hands on her pants before giving her a soft pat on the shoulder as she opened the passenger door.

 

"Just keep taking care of her and she'll keep taking care of you, have a nice day and don't be afraid of feelings, those are good when you get used to them." She said before Tzuyu got in and closed the door, waving softly as Jisoo started the engine and they drove off into the highway again.

 

"She's really something..." Jisoo said with a chuckle after a while.

 

"Yes, she is." Tzuyu replied, looking at the bag on her lap before glancing through the mirror at the shrinking store they had just left behind.

 

By the time they the night came again, Jisoo proposed lighting a fire and sleeping outside and Tzuyu agreed because the weather was appropriate enough.

 

After eating and sitting in front of the fire, they both rested on a series of blankets piled on top of each other, talking about Tzuyu's favorite sports and the dream of becoming a professional basketball player she gave up in order to run away and get to know the country... And the world if it was possible. Jisoo patted her arm and told her that whatever she wanted, she could achieve if she put enough effort in it, no matter how much it hurt, the pain was made to teach us humans how to not give up.

 

The younger girl fell asleep as Jisoo sang yet another lullaby for her to have a peaceful night without another nightmare.

 

And she woke up a couple hours later when she heard her sobbing.

 

As soon as she gained consciousness, she sat up fast and went up to check on a shirtless and dirty-faced Jisoo, who kept crying while holding a bottle against her chest, a couple feet away.

 

"What happened?" She kneeled beside Jisoo, checking the woman with her eyes for injuries of any kind, luckily the fire was still on so she could see.

 

"I dropped the bottle on my shirt and it got wet, Tzuyu." She sobbed, and Tzuyu noticed the smell of alcohol on her body. She lifted the older woman in her arms and took her back to the blankets, helping her to sit down and taking the bottle from her hands. "Please don't look at me."

 

"Drinking isn't the logical response... Alcohol doesn't help on anything at all." The younger girl said, putting a blanket around Jisoo's shoulders and sitting beside her in silent support.

 

"I'm not drinking because of the shirt, it's because I need it every now and then." Jisoo explained, leaning her head on Tzuyu's shoulder and the younger girl couldn't bring herself to shrug her off. "Go to sleep, I'm sorry for bothering you, Tzu."

 

"Talk to me... I'm not a good talker, but a decent listener." Tzuyu found herself saying, the feeling on her heart tugging her close to the woman. She could say it was a simple act of compassion, but that sole action was so much more for her; more like the treatment she would have wished to receive when she was eleven years old and the hell broke loose on the place she used to call home.

 

Jisoo sobbed again and covered her own face with one of her trembling hands.

 

"I met him when we were fifteen, and we dated since high school years; he was so... Beautiful, his smile, his kind words and the way he only looked at me and nobody else, me, the ugly outcast from London with the old-fashioned camera and the fat body. My parents loved him, his parents loved me even though I was awkward and not the perfect poster girl, we were the opposite couple, like those stupid stereotypes you see in movies." She made a pause, tugging on her own pants in a nervous tick. "I didn't even realize when things started to change, it was so subtle, how he didn't like when I wore pants so I started to wear long skirts because he liked them better; he didn't like rock so I started listening to classical music with him every afternoon... When we got to college and I decided to major in Photography, he took my camera and said that I was meant for other stuff, not taking pictures; when I tried to pry my camera from his hands... That was the first time he hit me."

 

Tzuyu swallowed, and she closed her eyes in order to concentrate and push all the memories away so she could be there for Jisoo.

 

"He was so sorry, he kissed me over and over again, promised that he wouldn't do it again... But he did it, over and over again; Kangsoo would ask my why did I made him do that, and I believed it was all my fault, because he was perfect, and I was the outcast, the one to blame."

 

She trembled, and Tzuyu just kept listening to her.

 

"I dropped out from college out of fear... And I was so scared of my parents that I didn't let them know and I just saved all the college money in an account to give it back to them eventually. That was the last straw, when I told Kangsoo I would come back home to my parents; that night he brought a bottle of wine because he was planning to propose. He used the bottle to..."

 

"That's why you have these tattoos." Tzuyu cut her off, trying to not make her go back to that moment and the fact that she didn’t felt brave enough to keep listening. Jisoo just nodded and held tightly onto the blanket so the younger girl wouldn't look to her body. "I know too well how it is to be scared every day."

 

"I grew up thinking he was the only one who could ever love me like that."

 

"I grew up thinking no one could ever be capable of loving me at all." Tzuyu replied, leaning her head on top of Jisoo's. "My father and brother... They-" nausea shook her body as she tried to keep her indifferent facade; soon the bottle on her hand flew away as she threw it as far as she could and she sniffed in frustration.

 

"Tzuyu... When I met you-"

 

"I'm still running away, it's my fourth night away."

 

"What if they look for you?"

 

"That's the difference between you and me, they won't look for me."

 

She felt the woman shift then, and she felt her eyes boring into her side profile like it was the first time she saw her; Tzuyu could say the same about Jisoo; she now saw the woman in an entire new light, not because she was a victim, but because she was doing the same exact thing Tzuyu tried to do in that conversation: trying to give another person the chance she didn't got, that was the reason she picked her up from a potentially dangerous store, and that was why the younger girl let herself be hugged by the older one.

 

Tzuyu gently kissed Jisoo's temple and the both of them sobbed, sticking to each other until they were too tired of crying and fell asleep tangled under the blankets on the warm ground.

 

When the sun shined upon her faces, two broken hearts, two broken bodies and two deeply wounded minds stared at each other through hooded, swollen eyes; they hoped for the first time in a long time, for their rough edges to be soft enough for them to stick close and maybe make a new shape out of irregular pieces.

 

**Act five: Pragma**

 

The next city seemed more like a carbon copy of the previous ones, and that somehow made Tzuyu wish for them to go beyond until they discovered new landscapes and fresher airs; Jisoo kept her calm, promising for a sole and quick shopping stop in order to sooth her inner anxieties, the younger girl found herself sighing softly every time she heard the words.

 

Lately, the only thing that made her feel alive was the prospect of running away again and again, until the world completely forgot her name and everything she carried within was tossed off the edges of the world.

 

"It's mainly water and some snacks for the way, and if I'm lucky, probably some film for my camera; we can get the food on road diners and convenience stores if we keep on the route. We have to make a stop on a hostel too, so we can take shower because in all honesty I need a very long shower to cleanse all my sins." Jisoo jokingly explained as Tzuyu walked close beside her. "Does a bed for the night sound good to you?"

 

"I don't care." She simply answered, and she was honest.

 

"Of course you don't." Jisoo sighed as her usual smile faltered, a sad glint on her big and expressive eyes.

 

They walked in silence across streets and looking through stores for anything they could need until the next stop; little by little, the bag Tzuyu offered to carry was filled with the essentials, including a toothbrush and other necessities Jisoo bought for her, insisting that the ones she brought with herself were already too old or unusable.

 

Tzuyu tried hard to convince herself that the older woman wasn't caring for her, that the emotion that flashed on her face wasn't genuine and she was only waiting for the perfect moment when she could be hurt once again; it was hard every time, because each time the taller girl muttered a "thanks", Jisoo's smile seemed to get even brighter, followed by a soft "it's nothing" before she walked a couple steps away in order to retrieve yet another thing she said they needed.

 

It was hard not to believe in her, they were the same after all.

 

"Is there something that you'd like, Tzuyu?" She asked when they entered yet another store, walking through the aisles in search for her favorite snacks. When she, unsurprisingly didn't got any answer, she stopped on her tracks and looked up at her. "Okay let's do something, go and search around the aisles by yourself; I won't be looking at you, so just pick whatever you want and meet me here in a couple minutes, okay?"

 

Tzuyu put both of her hands inside her hoodie pocket and timidly nodded before walking away taking long strides, not wanting to keep her waiting too long.

 

It was more difficult than she initially thought.

 

She looked through colorful packages and different sizes of snacks, each one looking more tempting than the previous ones; the shop got Tzuyu into a predicament when she stood on one of the aisles, holding a bag of mini-brownies on one hand and gummy bears in the other, looking from one to another while biting her lower lip in concentration.

 

She had never tried any of those before.

 

Tzuyu wondered if Jisoo would get mad if she asked for the two bags, they weren't so expensive and she could probably trade them for the bottle of lemon ice tea Jihyo picked for her.

 

"Jisoo? Is it you?"

 

The deep voice calling that particular name from the other side of the aisle immediately pulled Tzuyu out of her thoughts and triggered her curiosity; she walked around the corner to go and look for the older woman, discreetly peeking when she found her, her face looking directly to the chips section of the aisle, like she was pretending to ignore the person who called her name. The tall girl then decided to walk out from the corner and clear her throat to get Jisoo's attention from whatever was going on.

 

"Hey... Uhm, would you mind i-"

 

"Oh my god, it is you." The tall man chuckled, interrupting her, and Tzuyu's expression immediately morphed from curiosity to nothing when the older woman flinched and dropped her lemon tea bottle.

 

"Kangsoo..." Tzuyu heard, and her blood froze when she saw the man walk towards Jisoo and enveloped her in a hug.

 

The first thing her brain processed was the panicked look on the older woman's face when the man entered her personal space right in front of her, holding her face in his hands to keep her close while he talked.

 

"Oh my god, baby, I missed you so much." He almost cried out, his eyes becoming crescent moons as he smiled sweetly, like he couldn't believe she was really there. He touched her face, his thumbs caressing her bruises and making her shiver. "I looked for you, so long... I can't believe I found you here, how are you? are you okay? where are you staying?"

 

The tall and well-built men looked so nice, so kind and polite; his buttoned up shirt tucked into his pants giving him the suburban husband look that would make any girl fall for him and his innocent looking doe eyes. But she only could see danger in people like him, the ones who looked more brilliant were the same ones who casted the biggest shadow.

 

Tzuyu felt nauseous when he started caressing Jisoo, kissing her forehead over and over again, whispering sweet nothings and practically crying in joy. She was reminded of the things she tried so hard to push to the back of her mind when she saw Jisoo's face, the scars under her skin itching to be opened again when those big eyes only reflected pain and fear; with her hands trembling and sealed lips, she held the candie bags with a death grip until her own eyes found the stranger ones, giving her a curious look.

 

"Oh, are you Jisoo's friend?" He smiled widely and Tzuyu never felt more disgusted when he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kangsoo, Jisoo's boyfriend."

 

She felt lightheaded when the man reached out and held her hand anyway, shaking it softly.

 

"This is... This is Sally." Jisoo squeaked out, immediately taking the attention of the man back to her. "She's shy."

 

"Oh, don't worry." He softly said, smiling back at Tzuyu, who could only hear venom dripping from his words. "She looks like a sweet girl."

 

"Kangsoo-" She interrupted again in the softest voice the younger girl ever heard coming from her, tugging on his sleeve. "Can we talk?"

 

"Of course, baby, we have a lot to catch up with."

 

"I mean, right now... Can we talk outside? Tzuyu can wait for us on my car." Jisoo sent a quick glance on her way and gave her bag, but the taller girl didn't move so instead she tugged on Kangsoo's sleeve again, pulling the smiling man towards the exit. "She will pay for her things and meet us outside."

 

"Okay, we will wait for you around the corner, Sally-ssi." He politely announced.

 

"Take your time, you can buy anything you want." Was the last thing Jisoo said to her before getting out of the store in company of the man.

 

And Tzuyu just stood there, knowing exactly what she meant by that.

 

She heard her father saying similar words to her brother so many times, like a silent warning about what was going to come; her fate sealed by the privacy of their living room, or her bedroom for that matter. So many times she chose silence and obedience, so many times her brother chose ignorance and even more violence in a futile attempt to present himself as the untouchable one.

 

So many choices went wrong so many times.

 

But for the first time in her life, Tzuyu felt she had a real choice, right on her hands. The choice was right on her fists, closing strongly as her own short nails pierced through the skin of her palms. It didn't felt like the movies, when the protagonist, fueled by revenge, starts seeing red as the anger and rage takes over their whole existence.

 

Tzuyu didn't see anything at all, she just felt the pain inside her ribs and inside her throat, consuming her all as she dropped the candy bags and put Jisoo's bag over her shoulder; she swallowed the hot melting iron inside her lungs and her long legs moved faster as her vision turned into a tunnel, closing in on her as she suffocated herself with hate.

 

Her skin barely registered the light rain dropping on her shoulders, sticking strands of hair against her corrupted expression, she ignored every voice around her, every sound filling the atmosphere as she only focused on an specific male voice, dripping poison on the alleyway on the side of the parking lot. Her heart started beating faster when she found them.

 

And it stopped completely when Kangsoo's hand collided with Jisoo's beautiful face.

 

"See what you made me do? I only want to help you... But you're so stubborn. Why do you make me hurt you?" He sweetly said, grabbing her by the shoulders and kissing the other side of her face, not even bothering to clean the thin trail of blood running down her chin. "Don't make me do it again, look at me, Jisoo."

 

That wasn't love, Tzuyu was sure of it; she had met love from the first day away from home. She met love in a silver Tucson; she met love in a convenience store, in the middle of the night; she met love when she was twelve years old and got her first kiss.

 

"Jisoo, look at me right now!" He roared, making the older woman shrink into herself.

 

That wasn't love, back at home there wasn't love... In that alleyway, there wasn't love.

 

The rain roared as she did, dropping the bag in the wet concrete and grabbing the snake with her two bare hands, running towards him as a black horse would in seek of freedom; her thin frame collided with the muscular one of the man and suddenly everything was white noise and the world was devoid of color. In the monochromatic scene, Tzuyu didn't see red, she saw black and white as she threw herself on top of him when he lost his balance and fell to the floor.

 

Tears filled her eyes but no one saw them, she didn't let them; she roared back at his surprised expression when she grabbed him from the shirt collar and her fist collided like a brick against his face, over and over again as the iron went through every artery, through every vein to find its place on her heart and providing her the strength to face the devil himself and take him with her back to hell.

 

Jisoo's voice begging her to stop was the only thing that tied her to the world, as the pathetic demon under her fought back and drew blood from her nose and mouth; there wasn't anything nor anyone who could stop her from counting every bruise on Jisoo's skin, every tear falling from her face and turning it into a punch or kick against the man's frame. She clawed, punched and kicked until the only thing she could feel was the vibration of his pathetic whines and the soft arms of Jisoo circling her waist and making an effort to pull her away from him.

 

"Tzuyu STOP!" She screamed until her voice blended with the sound of the police sirens closing in.

 

The monochrome world only then shifted into two colors, red and blue, as her blood covered hands met the blue steel from the police car and two pairs of hands pulled her away from Jisoo's embrace.

 

"Jisoo..." She called out weakly as she stared at the woman's blood stained expression of pain, even worse than the one after being hit by Kangsoo.

 

Everything blurred into nothing as she saw her trying to stand up and run after her.

 

**

 

"Where is she! I want to see her! Let me the fuck out of this place!"

 

She banged her fists hard against the bars, pushing her body against them in a futile attempt to escape the cell, the woman from the other side just gives her a concerned look but ignores her anyway while she fills up a form. Tears roll down her cheeks in frustration because she can't bring herself to be calm considering the fact that she doesn't know if Jisoo is okay; for the first time in a long time, Tzuyu was scared of the posibility of other person being hurt.

 

"I'm supposed to be with her, we have to get to the next city to see the sunset." Her forehead met the iron bars and she sobbed, getting the attention of the police officer filling the form. "I want to be with her, this place is too small."

 

"This would be over faster if you just talked to us about what happened." The pale officer said knowingly and shook her head when Tzuyu spitted at her foot and hit the cell bars again using her fists. "Real mature kiddo, but you're in big trouble, you almost killed that dude. How old are you, by the way?"

 

But she kept silent, earning a disapproving look from the young, pale officer; she stood up from her desk and sighed, pulling a chair with her in order to sit in front of Tzuyu's cell, taking off the service gun from its holster and letting it rest on her thigh, awaiting for every wrong or sudden move. She seemed to examinate her expression while she sat there, until she apparently found what she was looking for and pulled the magazine out of the gun, leaving both elements on top of her desk.

 

"I'm Officer Kim Dahyun." She started, looking at her own nails before boring her feline eyes into her own. "And I know you're no gangster, kid, I can tell and your fingerprints are not present in any kind of criminal record; what you did to that man though, never saw anything like that in this sad, small town. I'm intrigued about the reasons, because I have a couple witnesses that told me really interesting things that I need to confirm before we decide what to do with you."

 

"Jisoo."

 

"The woman?" The officer asked, raising one of her eyebrows and leaning forward as Tzuyu expression changed at the sole mention of the other female.

 

"Let me see her." Tzuyu insisted, her voice echoing in the space of the old and small police station.

 

The police officer sighed, running her hands through her hair.

 

"You're not helping."

 

"Jisoo."

 

"Do you even understand why do I need you to talk?"

 

"Jisoo." She repeated like it was the only word she knew, pressing her face between the bars to intimidate the officer, who simply stood out and looked closely at her face.

 

"Those are older bruises." She mentioned before taking steps back and picked up her radio; Tzuyu didn't register her words as she grew even more desperate as the seconds inside that cage went by.

 

After a couple minutes, another officer entered the station from the back door and stood beside Officer Kim, staring at Tzuyu as she whispered something into her partner's ear. The young girl didn't see the change in their expressions, only heard the single sigh and the chair moving again.

 

"She won't say anything unless... "

 

"Okay then, let's take her to the back and be over with this." Officer Kim said to the other one. "Okay kid, let's move; hands on your back and don't you dare move until your handcuffed again."

 

The metal pieces again circled around her wrists and pressed into her skin as she was pulled out of the cell and into the back door, an eerie looking hallway giving space to even more suspicious offices with no indications; Tzuyu's eyes blurred thanks to the tears and she suddenly looked like the child she really was, scared of the future and what the world prepared for people like Jisoo and her.

 

The innocent looking officer opened one of the doors for them and led them into something that looked very much like an interrogation room. They asked for her to sit down on one of the chairs, but Tzuyu was restless, her knees shaking and her breath fastening as she stood beside pale officer when the other one walked out the door.

 

"Tzuyu?"

 

All of her senses went on full focus then and her heart skipped a couple beats when the other officer opened the door and revealed Jisoo, who slowly and very cautiously entered the room; her face was again bruised and her lower lip had a cut, but all Tzuyu saw were her big eyes looking at her like she didn't know what to do anymore. A metallic sound echoed on the room as one of the officers freed her from the handcuffs and she immediately took a step towards the older woman, her hands hovering over her face but not quite touching until Jisoo leaned on one of her still blood stained hands and started crying, clinging onto Tzuyu like her life depended on it.

 

"Will you talk now?" Officer Kim interrupted, her look softening considerably after glancing towards her partner. "I assume your name is Tzuyu, since... Jisoo here just confirmed it. Is it okay if we call you Tzuyu?"

 

The younger girl nodded, holding onto Jisoo, who hid her face on her neck the whole time, even when they agreed to sit down on the chairs the officers prepared.

 

"Okay, so, officer Minatozaki here and I are going to make you some questions, and it's really important of you to be completely honest with us... We have several witnesses, and if the information you give us doesn't match with what the people said I won't have a choice but to send you to jail, Miss Tzuyu."

 

"What you did there was brutal, and you could be imprisoned by homicide attempt if that man presses charges." Officer Minatozaki added in a way more concerned tone than Officer Kim.

 

"I need you to describe, specifically, every happening since the beginning." Officer Kim prompted. "And don't omit any details."

 

By the moment they were done -Or more like, Tzuyu was done, since Jisoo didn't dare to speak directly to them or even leave her hiding spot at Tzuyu's neck.- both officers exchanged looks and looked into the files with unreadable expressions.

 

Officer Minatozaki shared a warm and reassuring smile with them and got up from her chair in order to retrieve a bag from behind her and and kneel in front of Tzuyu while putting latex gloves over her hands, politely asking her for her hand and extracting some of the blood under her nails and saving it onto a bag that read "evidence"

 

"What do you think about this, Dahyun?" Minatozaki asked, checking for the evidence bags to be properly sealed. "It certainly sounds like self-defense to me."

 

Tzuyu frowned and Jisoo peeked from her neck.

 

"It does, considering the facts... That she didn't hit first and certainly didn't opposed to be arrested, also, she shows minor self-defense injuries."

 

"It would be perfect if we were to confirm that he had previous violent behaviors... If we had the evidence." Minatozaki added, nodding towards the blood sample she got from Tzuyu's hands and another one she got from Jisoo's face. "We still would need to fill the reports... Under their names though."

 

"Yes... Their names." Dahyun repeated, raising both of her eyebrows to the two confused faces and signaling the door.

 

When the burgundy '65 Pontiac sped off from the police station, both officers stepped out and saw the car driving away with the same unreadable expression on their faces.

 

"Did you call the hospital?" Officer Minatozaki asked.

 

"Yes, Sana, they have him locked up on his hospital room; he seems to have previous records, both rape attempt and extremely violent behaviors." Dahyun clicked her tongue, disgusted with the taste those words left on her mouth.

 

"Why did you let them go?"

 

"Because the paperwork for a trial it's way too stressful, and they might have to repeat the same story over and over again... And it would be really tiring for me to write it in reports over and over again." She pretended to be stressed and tired, fake-cleaning the sweat off her brow.

 

"You could get in trouble, the taller one had bruises all over her body when we arrested her, and they were definitively a week old or so."

 

"We became police officers because we wanted justice, not technical formalities... And those girls, they were both exposed to the worst kind of humans; some people only understand violence, Sana." Dahyun answered, intertwining her fingers with Sana's.

 

"Not them though."

 

"Not them, they speak a completely different language."

 

**Act six: Eros and Philautia**

 

The hours went by as fast as they came, the car speeding through highways and empty streets as Jisoo craved to get away as fast as possible, from everything and everyone. They kept silent as the semi-deserted landscape soon started morphing into forests and went from yellows and oranges to greens and blues.

 

For full five hours, they didn't let go of each other's hands.

 

When they stopped the car in a ground road, apparently secluded from the world, Tzuyu followed Jisoo through trees while carrying her blue bag and a single blanket; something huge was growing inside her veins, something full of longing and unafraid of whatever the fate prepared for them. She followed the older woman in seek of the sound making itself even more loudly at every step they took.

 

And not once did Jisoo let go of her hand.

 

Tzuyu's blue sneakers left her feet and the blue bag was left forgotten on top of the blanket as she walked into the lake after Jisoo, shuddering at the contrasting feeling of the sun on her skin and the cold but considerably calm waters covering her up to the hips. She stood in front of Jisoo and stared at her still blood stained face, the same way she stared at her own, like looking for a trace of doubt on her eyes.

 

She let go of her hand when she found her answer, reaching to the back of her jeans and retrieving a pair scissors, showing them to Tzuyu.

 

"You came for me."

 

"And I would do it over and over again." She answered instantly, catching Jisoo's tears on her thumb.

 

"You became the minute of quiet in this loud shouting world, even when your heart itself is so full of noise and cries of pain."

 

"But you heard them, you heard me." She whispered, receiving the scissors Jisoo put on her hand and watching attentively as she held her hair in front of her, as a tribute. "Because you sound like the songs you hum while I'm sleeping." Tzuyu reminded her, cutting every strand of Jisoo's hair, running her fingers through it to get rid of every trace of Kangsoo's presence and branding her own in hopes of her to forget.

 

She helped her until her hair was shoulder-length and she cleaned her face with the uttermost care using the lake water, running her fingers over the skin and purifying it with devotion. She smiled at her when Jisoo opened her eyes and looked up at her, silently asking how did she look.

 

"And you look like the home I always imagined." The younger girl finished, handling the scissors to Jisoo and guiding her hand until she let her know how short she expected it to get.

 

Jisoo's big and bright eyes looked up at her with uncertainty, silently asking Tzuyu if she was completely sure about what she was about to do; the taller girl answered by kneeling in front of her until the water leveled up to her chest, closing her eyes in the greatest sign of trust and guiding again the scissors on her hair.

 

"Help me get rid of the pain." She whispered, holding onto Jisoo's hips as the long strands of hair started falling into the water and the weight put over her shoulders at such a young age started to fade away into the lake.

 

Every scream and every hit, every bruise and every scar faded into nothingness when Jisoo ran her hands through her hair, cutting the most part of it with trembling hands; suddenly the world felt less scary, because not all people wanted to keep her in the proverbial cage she was tossed into when she was born.

 

She met love through the people she less would have expected; she met love when she met Nayeon and Mina, taking their sick daughter to the hospital with the most bright smiles Tzuyu had ever seen in a family; she met love when Momo gifted her wisdom and the most humble of presents in exchange of a smile or a single shake of hands, the love for those we can make smile; she met love when Kim and Minatozaki gave them freedom, even over the risks it would really mean for them, because they believed in true and everlasting justice.

 

She met love in a single glance, when a stranger looked for her in an empty parking lot, offering comfort and healing in more than one way, even if her own heart was already suffering.

 

And when she opened her eyes to see Jisoo once again, she met love all over again.

 

The older woman ran her fingers through the now short hair, the boyish haircut not affecting the soft features of her young, beautiful face. Tzuyu's fingers grasped Jisoo's hips for support as she slowly stood up, softly taking the scissors from her hand and carelessly throwing them to the lakeside; she took her hands then, and brought them to the sides of her face, craving for the delicacy of her touch to bring comfort one more time as she realized the nature of the feelings invading her being.

 

Jisoo noticed the change on the taller girl's eyes, the brilliant pupils, full of unanswered questions and inexperience; she held the younger girl on her hands and silently promised to keep her heart as pure as she was seeing it at the moment, raw and full of the most overwhelming feelings.

 

"Do you understand how dangerous is for you to look at me like that... You're so young, and I don't want to be another weight on your shoulders." She voiced out her doubts, but she didn't dare to take her fingers away from Tzuyu's delicate skin. "What can a broken castle of glass do to protect you from the rain?"

 

"You look at me like that and expect me not to catch feelings, you're unfair, Jisoo." Tzuyu stubbornly answered, letting out a soft chuckle and resting her hands on her waist. "You forget that broken pieces of glass can make the light reflect in an even more beautiful way, there is beauty in the chaos, you know? We can be sharper, wiser; just let me in, Jisoo, and I promise you I will love you until love doesn't hurt anymore."

 

Tzuyu's nose caressed her cheek as she pulled her close, brushing her lips against her own in order to ask for permission, the sound of their breathings being the sole accompaniment to the faint sound of the water moving around them; the younger girl's inexperience and curiosity met her vulnerability at the first moment their lips met in the most innocent of kisses. Jisoo sighed in the middle of it, her heart bursting with emotion at the purity of the contact, a blank canvas suddenly filled with colors and the most beautiful shapes.

 

Hesitant hands found the buttons of her shirt and Jisoo guided each one of her movements, letting herself be undressed slowly by the taller girl's curious hands. Only then their lips stopped their motions and Tzuyu took a step back in order to admire the new world being unveiled in front of her eyes; the navy blue shirt hanged from the older girl, exposing the colorful flowers starting from one of her shoulders and getting lost down her left arm, and the clothed chest to her now eager eyes.

 

She slid her hands from her shoulders down her arms, helping her to get rid of the soaked piece of clothing and discarding it out of the water in order to take care of the next piece of clothing covering the wonders of the art piece that Jisoo really was.

 

"Do you want me to stop?" Tzuyu softly asked, her fingers sliding down her waist.

 

Jisoo answered by pulling off her hoodie and t-shirt, leaving Tzuyu completely bare from the waist up and, like it was an immediate magnetism, latching her lips on her skin. The younger girl sighed as every bruise on her torso was gently kissed, her fingers tangling themselves on her hair as she ran her lips across the burn scars and traced every bruise like it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

 

She pulled her closer and the both of their breaths got caught on their throats as their warm skins came in contact with each other; Tzuyu kissed her again because she found the sweetest of caramels resting on her lips and was eager to taste more, her clumsy hands getting rid of the last piece of clothing covering her chest.

 

When they carried their bodies out of the water and fell on top of the blanket completely bare for the sky to see, Tzuyu looked down at Jisoo with a last question lingering on her dark eyes; her fingers trembling as she supported herself in one arm in order to keep touching her everywhere, anywhere.

 

“It’s okay; we don’t have to do anything else.” She whispered, her hands finding the nape of her neck and bringing her closer in order to kiss her again.

 

Still, she was so eager to keep discovering her, to keep loving her until all her insecurities melted into nothing. She kissed the bruise under her eye and the one on her jaw, sighing at the feeling of her hands running down her back, trying to soothe her childish fears. Tzuyu let her hand roam, discovering new sensations and reactions; different sounds and sweet kisses guiding her movements in harmony with their unsteady breathings.

 

The need of more pushed her to try even more things, and she let her instincts guide her as their skins blushed and reacted at every trace their digits left behind; her fingers then reached the heart of her femininity at the same time that Jisoo’s leg found a place between her own and their hearts stuttered at the new discovery.

 

Most people would use the expression “the hell broke loose” to describe a moment like the one happening at the moment; but as their moans merged into one, echoing in the woods, it was more like the heaven had found its place on the earth in order to join them and declare their love as holy.

 

The young girl found herself determined to erase every trace left behind by the devil, replace every bruise with her kisses, every scar with her warmth until everything Kangsoo had done was as insignificant as his own presence in the world.

 

Tzuyu’s fingers helped her to create a new world to unveil, remembering every millimeter of skin and flesh as she delicately stroked her open; her lips lingered over Jisoo’s and their breaths became a single one as their lungs synchronized. It was experimental at first; a subtle movement of her hips and the temptation covering her fingers helping her realize the power she was taking from the world, claiming its most beautiful angel as her own.

 

Her own hips showed her the way to feel a completely new kind of human connection, and Jisoo’s hands guided their movement like it was a dance; the burning sensation in her body made her easily crave for more, but it wasn’t the sole action affecting her, it was the look she gave her when she opened her eyes.

 

Everything around them meant nothing, the only thing in existence was them and the love they proved to each other from the first time they crossed paths. Tzuyu shivered when Jisoo traced her chest with her fingers, encouraging her to keep going and deliver herself completely at the new sensations, soaking her thigh in pleasure.

 

“Deeper.” Jisoo asked breathless, and Tzuyu complied, earning a new moan.

 

Every stroke and every move suddenly got caught in a rhythm, just like when she hummed those Spanish songs at night, only this time it was a totally different kind of music the one they were following. Tzuyu moved her lips to Jisoo’s left shoulder, kissing, nipping and licking at her tattoos and the big scar hidden underneath; she warmed her skin with her own breath, slowly becoming unsteady as her own motions became frantic.

 

The burning was overwhelming, and she was sure Jisoo was feeling it too when her moans became helpless whines and her nails trailed down her back, trying to not damage the skin but incapable of resisting.

 

“How does it feel?” She breathed out, holding out a moan as the older woman shifted her thigh, adding pressure to her center; Jisoo ran her fingers through her short hair, bringing her closer to answer because she didn’t even trust her own voice anymore.

 

“It’s… So bright.” Jisoo replied, her legs trembling when Tzuyu’s fingers found a specific spot in her canal. “There”

 

Tzuyu’s bottom lip trembled at the discovery and she stroked repeatedly until Jisoo’s shoulder length hair laid messily on the blanket and her mouth opened without making any sound; she felt her insides fluttering around her fingers, her heels pressing strongly against the ground and somehow, the younger girl knew.

 

“Jisoo…” She called with a breathy voice, making sure the other girl heard her. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed. Let me make you not only mine, but yours.”

 

Jisoo pushed herself against her as if she would die if she didn’t, and Tzuyu of course was there to make sure she didn’t, holding her in her arms when her back arched and her mouth let out the most beautiful sounds she ever heard, flesh walls keeping her fingers greedily as she came undone under her, filling her hand with the result of her caresses.

 

Her own sanity followed right after, her craving causing her hips to move in slow but firm circles on Jisoo’s thigh; her chest heaving as the older woman holds her behind firmly in order to make the contact harder on her. Tzuyu barely registered her own needy whines, too deep into the sensations provided by the woman under her, hands trailing down her body like she was worshipping her.

 

The feeling she got was something she could never forget, her body trembling as she lost grasp of her own consciousness and she melted on top of Jisoo, holding onto her while her hips twitched and the wet sounds were rudely loud in the middle of the woods. Overwhelmed tears ran down her cheeks and the older woman stopped them with more kisses, finally shuddering when her insides dripped on Jisoo’s skin, leaving a piece of her in her painted skin.

 

They stared at each other like the night Jisoo got drunk, through hooded eyes filled with a completely new feeling, only this time they already know what specific feeling it was.

 

Tzuyu gifted Jisoo with the most beautiful smile she had ever seen, and the first one she had actually seen coming from the teenage girl; she brought her hand against her lips and kissed the skin there with the most pure devotion she could evoke.

 

“I love you… Jisoo unnie” She whispered on her shoulder, cuddling next to her as the sun shone on them. “I love you because I love myself when I do so.”

 

Jisoo could have cried in the moment she heard the girl say that, because it was the same exact feeling she wasn’t able to describe, even being older and more experienced in life. Tzuyu somehow kept her innocence, and Jisoo was proven that even making love can’t take away all the good things inside her heart, even when her body had been previously tainted.

 

“I love you too, Tzuyu. So much.”

 

**

 

“Name one place you always wanted to see.” Jisoo smiled at her, playing with her short hair after Tzuyu finished putting on fresh clothes, soon getting an unexpectedly charming boyish look. “No matter how far away it is.”

 

The younger girl seemed to be really considering her answer, biting her lower lip in concentration until it came and her whole expression changed when a smile slowly creeped up on her face.

 

“Nepal.”

 

“Nepal?”

 

“It’s really far away.” Jisoo commented with a smile, even chuckling when Tzuyu shrugged.

 

“You have a fast car.”

 

“That I do.”

 

Tzuyu leaned closer then, and she pecked Jisoo’s lips softly before handling her one of her shirts, shrugging again when the older woman sent her a questioning look.

 

“I want to be able to see your tattoos and all the marks I left. I like those.” She simply explained, now smiling cheekily when Jisoo whined and pushed her softly, putting the sleeveless shirt on anyway.

 

"We can start calling each other by different names when we get to the city." Tzuyu stated thoughtfully, the volume of her voice gradually going down as Jisoo closed in until their foreheads touched. "So we can start over in peace."

 

Jisoo closed her eyes as she considered options until the softest of smiles invaded her beautiful face. She interlaced her fingers with Tzuyu's and kissed her chin and both of her cheekbones as she sat on her lap, holding her close as if she wanted to melt into her again. A subtle nod was her agreement and they started to whisper different syllables one after the other, trying to find a middle point between their birth names and the new identity they would take in order to leave all the pain behind.

 

"Jihyo." Tzuyu whispered against Jisoo's lips, kissing her softly.

 

“Yonghee." Jihyo answered, kissing her back.

 

And they agreed, because it sounded good; after a while, or a whole life, they finally had words in their language to say "home"

 

**

 

“Jihyo?” She softly called, when she noticed the material of one of her beanies resting beside her, a memory immediately making her smile.

 

“Yes, love?” She replied without taking her eyes of the road.

 

“Can we go somewhere first?”

 

“Where?” Jihyo replied, without even questioning her about her motives.

 

“I have a call to make, and some friends I would like to see before we leave.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I might write an epilogue, who knows.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and even if I didn't make the real story justice, I think the message I was trying to give is definitively there.  
> Thank you for the support, we'll see each other soon!
> 
> -RaccoonEyedNerd


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